the posse

[superposition]

Who: Qubit, Peter, Ben, Genji, Garrus, and Creepy Joe
What: Creepy Joe returns to Anchor. Qubit wants to try and capture him.
When: Right after Joe's post goes up.
Where: Agricultural Zone.
Warnings: there might be fighting and it might end badly. this is fine.

[ The way Qubit sees it, "Creepy Joe" has a lot of damn gall showing his face in Anchor right now. Technically, the evidence linking him to the camera incident is circumstantial, but it's enough to convince Qubit he was at least involved. There are other reasons to apprehend him, of course, but - on at least one level, this is personal.

So, shortly after Joe's post appears on the network, Qubit puts out an audio message to a select handful of people. The few who he trusts not to strike first, but who he knows can strike back, if it comes to that. ]

This is Qubit. I need you all to meet me at the Agricultural Zone, sector three entrance, immediately. Consider this an emergency.

"Creepy Joe" has returned to Anchor.

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[superposition]

Text

[itsnotaonesie]

[So while he's also playing phone tag with Creepy Joe, he's also going to be texting Qubit because bbbBBRROOOOOOOO]

I'll be there but I'd really like to know what you're intending to do with this.

[superposition]

I intend to apprehend him.

[itsnotaonesie]

Apprehend him and then put him where?

[superposition]

Secure quarantine facility, surface level, near the Porter. I don't know that it'll hold him indefinitely, but it should do the job for long enough.

[itsnotaonesie]

Okay, that's a good starting point, now here's what we're going to do. I'll convince him to voluntarily stay in the quarantine facility until we know that he's clean, and then we'll move him to a permanent residence.

[superposition]

What?! Absolutely not!

[itsnotaonesie]

He's not a criminal, Qubit. He's trying to help us.

[superposition]

So you've forgotten about the cameras? Or how he's already tried to kill you?

[itsnotaonesie]

He didn't try to kill me, the freaky mutant tentacle thing inside of him did. And I haven't forgotten the cameras, I'm talking to him about them right now.

[superposition]

[ ??? Hang on a sec, Qubit's just gonna go look at that conversa-

oh, shit. ]

Peter, where are you right now?

[itsnotaonesie]

I told you I was gonna meet you here, did't I?

[Of course he's going to be a smartass about it!!]

He's not going to do anything to me. It seems like he has more control over his weirdness now that he's inside away from the radiation and stuff.

[superposition]

[ Goddamnit Parker why do you always do this.

Okay. Peter's already with him. Shit. Now what? ... Well, hang on, actually. If Joe's relatively in control right now, if he's not getting violent, then maybe this can still work out. Just so long as Peter doesn't get any more bright ideas. ]

... Fine. In that case, keep him talking for a few minutes. But at the first sign of trouble, I want you out of there, understand?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Sorry Qubit, Peter's just full of bright ideas :)))]

I've got this under control, Qubit! Why can't you just trust me to handle it?

[superposition]

That's what I'm doing. It's him I don't trust.

[ Peter can handle himself, Qubit knows that. But he has no idea what Joe's capable of. It'll have to be up to Peter to decide what constitutes "trouble." ]

[itsnotaonesie]

Fine, you don't trust him. He doesn't trust us, either. He's scared, Qubit, you can't just barge in here and start making demands. We have to be delicate about this.

[superposition]

[ Well, yeah, he can't barge in now. But frankly, he's surprised Joe hasn't already lashed out or bolted. Did Qubit overestimate the guy's volatility, or is it just Peter's legendary charisma at work? ]

Can you convince him to go into quarantine?

[itsnotaonesie]

[He has a 20 in charisma BABY. Also in dex and strength he's very talented.]

I think I can. He said he trusts me. He said he'd trust me to look for a way to cure him, too. Making sure he's not contagious is pretty much just step one of that.

[superposition]

A cure? Don't overpromise, Peter, we don't even know what's wrong with him yet.

[ And yeah, of course finding that out is the first step, but there's a strong chance they won't be able to fix it, that's what he's getting at. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

I didn't tell him I'd find one for sure, just that I'm gonna try.

Look, I'll meet you outside, we can talk about it in person, okay?

[superposition]

With or without him?

[ Neither option's great - "without" means Joe's going to be unattended, but "with" means Ben will need to leave in a hurry. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

I'm shooting for without him, but he wants to meet you guys outside. I'm gonna try to get him to wait a minute so we can talk before he comes out.

[superposition]

[ He... wants to meet them? Just like that? PETER WHAT DID YOU DO. ]

Acknowledged. We're on our way.

[itsnotaonesie]

[MADE A FRIEND]

See you there.

[And peter finishes up chatting with Joe and goes outside to wait, WOOSH.]

text

[arcadedragon]

Who?

I am on my way but I'm unaware what is going on?

[superposition]

He's a former resident of Anchor, from long before any of us arrived. But he's been warped by the Redshift, physically and mentally. He's already attacked several of our people, and spied on us via hidden cameras for months.

We're going to apprehend him before he does anything worse.

[arcadedragon]

Is that wise? If he's making himself known there must be a reason.

[superposition]

Counterpoint: is it wise to just let him come and go as he pleases? We don't know who he is, or what he wants, or who else he might be talking to.

[arcadedragon]

I see.

I'm good at extraction missions. I'll be there shortly.

@lazarus | text

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben does consider it an emergency. And he is quick to respond to emergencies. Nonetheless, there is a delay of a few minutes before he sends his reply. He needed a bit of clarity from Cole, first. Now that he has that, he's on his way. ]

I'm on my way now.

But listen, Qubit.
I don't think I should get near him.
Not unless shit gets really bad. Like life or death bad.

[superposition]

Noted, but why?

[benhargreeves]

[ How to phrase it so he doesn't sound like he's just cowardly and chickening out, but also so Qubit doesn't get the impression he's a danger to people or not in control of his powers? ]

You know how it's a bad idea to just throw two cats that don't know each other into a room together without supervision?
Especially if one or both of them might be kind of territorial and/or nervous about the other?
I'm worried my guys might not like his guys.

And by guys I mean the creatures on the other side of my portal.
And by I'm worried I mean I can feel how much they don't want to be anywhere near him, and if I get too close, shit might hit the fan.
I've always been able to control them before but I've never been in a situation like this before.
Seems better to be safe than sorry.
Especially since you're probably not just planning on killing the guy.
Right?

[ Qubit doesn't want that, right? ]

[superposition]

Correct. We're not murdering anyone.

[ Wording it that way does leave some wiggle room for, say, self-defense or manslaughter, but shhhh. In the meantime, that's interesting - he didn't realize Ben's bond with the creatures allowed him to pick up on their... feelings, I guess? Is "feelings" the right word here? ]

They can sense him? Is that all they're telling you? Do they have any idea what he is, exactly?

[benhargreeves]

Okay, good. That's good news.

Kind of, maybe?
It's sort of hard for me to tell if he freaks me out and they're reacting to that, wanting to protect me from a threat.
Or if they can sense whatever is making him like that and it's freaking them out and I'm the one getting the bleedthrough?

And it's not like that. It's not like a language thing.
I can only pick up on a tiny bit of their emotions or urges or whatever, and only very basic stuff.
Fear, anger, hunger, stuff like that.
They're more like animals than people, I guess is how I would explain it.
Like wild animals from a dimension way way different to this one.

So I have no idea what he is.